PDF Version - Glidewell Dental Labs

Scannable Abutments:
Digital Impressions for
Dental Implants
Astra Tech, Straumann,
Neoss and Zimmer, as
well as Certain® (BIOMET
3i; Warsaw, Ind.),
PrimaConnex® (Keystone
Dental; Burlington,
Mass.), and Brånemark®
System, NobelActive
and NobelReplace (Nobel
Biocare; Yorba Linda,
Calif.). They are also
available for the lab’s
– ARTICLE and PHOTOS by Carlos A. Boudet, DDS, DICOI
Technological advances are making it easier than
ever to practice dentistry in almost every dental
procedure. 1 The purpose of this article is to increase
awareness of a new modality for the restoration
of implants by general practitioners and prosthodontists
utilizing chairside digital impression systems. 2
The conventional protocol for taking an implant impression
for crowns & bridges requires a stock or custom impression
tray loaded with a polyvinyl siloxane or polyether material
that is placed in the mouth to record the position of a
properly seated impression coping. This impression is then
used to pour a stone model from which the laboratory
fabricates the final restoration.
Digital intraoral impressions were first introduced in 1987
by Siemens with the CEREC 1. 3 There are now several wellestablished
systems that offer intraoral scanning and digital
impression capabilities for the construction of crowns &
bridges without the need for impression trays or materials. 4,5
For the dentist who needed an implant impression, however,
this technology was not yet available. In 2004, BIOMET 3i
introduced a coded implant healing abutment that provided
all of the necessary implant information without the need
for impression copings. 6 This was proprietary to 3i and
more costly than a standard impression, but it was a step in
the right direction.
Scannable Abutments: Digital Impressions for Dental Implants45